


The Next Right Thing

by Bellarsam_Chrisjulittle



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, One-Shot, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21656002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellarsam_Chrisjulittle/pseuds/Bellarsam_Chrisjulittle
Summary: Crimes of Grindelwald.  One-shot.  Immediately after the rally and fight in the graveyard but before going to Hogwarts.  Inspired by the song "The Next Right Thing" from the movie "Frozen 2."
Relationships: Leta Lestrange/Theseus Scamander, Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57





	The Next Right Thing

**Author's Note:**

> As I was listening to this beautiful song, it occurred to me that this could perfectly sum up what Tina would be feeling after losing Queenie and Credence to Grindelwald. You don't need to have seen the movie to appreciate the song, but I think it will resonate either way.
> 
> Written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, sung by Kristen Bell. Please listen to it: "The Next Right Thing" from Frozen 2.

As the ancient clock in the sitting room of Nicholas Flamel chimed twice, nobody reacted except for their host. He paused as he poured out hot chocolate for his guests, but only for a moment. He wanted to suggest to his guests that they get some sleep, but he knew better than that. How could any of them sleep after what they had been through? At least he could offer them shelter and feed them.

“Thank you,” said Newt Scamander softly, his arm around his older brother, who was wiping his eyes for the countless time. Theseus nodded his own thanks before drinking the hot beverage in one gulp. They were seated at a small table in the sitting room. In a corner, on a sofa, Nagini and Kama were speaking in low voices. Kama seemed to be comforting the Maledictus; she, too, kept wiping her eyes, and she still wore Yusuf’s coat around her shoulders.

As Flamel moved to the two on the sofa to offer them hot chocolate, the lid of the suitcase laying on the carpet beside Newt opened. Everyone turned to watch as Jacob Kowalski slowly and carefully climbed out. Even in the low light of the room, it was obvious that this was a man with a broken heart, just like Theseus. But it wasn’t only his sadness that was weighing on him right now.

“How is she?” burst out of Newt’s mouth after Jacob had shut the case’s lid.

“Sleeping,” said Jacob tiredly, sitting at the table and rubbing his face. “She’s completely worn out…God knows how long she’d been awake even before all this went down…And she needed to let it out in a long talk and a good cry…We both did.”

At the mention of Tina crying, Newt’s face spasmed with pain. The others had a similar silent reaction as well. None of them would soon forget the anguished scream that had burst from Tina in the cemetery, and the uncontrollable and silent sobs that followed. Jacob and Newt had carried her down into the case in a state of collapse. 

Jacob had remained with her while Newt had gone back to his brother. It had been the right thing to do, but it pained Newt to know how much Tina must be suffering. His eyes rested on his case, and only when he felt a hand on his shoulder did his gaze break away.

It was Theseus who had touched him and now spoke: “You should be there when she wakes up.”

Newt blinked in surprise and opened his mouth to protest, but his brother stopped him.

“I won’t fall apart, Newt. You’re not abandoning me. I don’t know all of the facts regarding you two, but am I right in saying that she needs you, too?”

This question he directed to Jacob, who nodded and then looked at Newt. “Yes, she does, as much as you need her, Newt. Don’t even try to deny it to a man who had a front row seat to you trying to find her again.”

Newt’s freckled cheeks went pink and he lowered his head. “I wasn’t going to…” he murmured. “It’s just…you and Theseus…”

Thankfully, neither his brother nor his best friend needed to hear anymore to understand Newt’s hesitation. Theseus squeezed his shoulder and said, “Don’t worry about me. Something good should come out of this horrible situation, or else this would all be unbearable.”

“Absolutely,” said Jacob. “We gotta love while we can with all we have.”

Seeing the bravery displayed by both men through their pain, Newt knew that he couldn’t argue in good conscience. Thankfully, he had no desire to, anyway. “I need to look in on my creatures, anyway,” he said, getting up from the table. 

“In the meantime,” said Jacob, also standing and turning to Flamel, “did I hear you say something earlier about chocolate croissants? That’s a French delicacy I would love to learn more about.”

“I wouldn’t mind learning more about any chocolate creation,” said Theseus. “I could use a distraction right now.”

Flamel gave the men a benevolent smile and motioned for them to follow him. Newt did not resist the hug that each man gave him before they followed the alchemist into his kitchen.

* * *

_I’ve seen dark before, but not like this._

_This is cold, this is empty, this is numb._

_The life I knew is over, the lights are out._

_Hello, darkness…I’m ready to succumb._

Tina did not want to wake up, but she did. At least the nightmare she’d been having ended, but the memories only replaced it – and that was worse. Curled in the fetal position, her arms wrapped around her in a vice grip, she shut her eyes as hard as she could. If she could disapparate into oblivion, she would. If she could do anything to disappear completely, she would. 

It wasn’t only to end this horrible pain in her heart or to stop the memories flooding her mind. What had happened mere hours ago had confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt something that Tina had been trying to avoid facing for months: When it came to her, no good deed goes unpunished. Any wrong she tried to make right, she only made it worse. Every person she tried to help…every person she ever cared about…All she did was let them down.

Newt…Credence…Queenie…she had let them all down.

_I follow you around, I always have,_

_But you’ve gone to a place I cannot find._

_This grief has a gravity, it pulls me down…_

_But a tiny voice whispers in my mind:_

_“You are lost…Hope is gone…_

_But you must go on…_

_And do the next right thing.”_

But she couldn’t hold her body in such a tense position for eternity. Besides, her conscience told her that she deserved the pain she was feeling. Oblivion was the easy way out. She turned over from her left side onto her right side, so that she was no longer facing the wooden wall of the shed inside Newt’s case. Jacob had convinced her to lay down for a while after they had cried together. Well, she had taken advantage of Newt’s bed for long enough.

Tina pressed her face into the pillow for one last, long, deep breath. She wanted to imprint Newt’s scent on her memory forever. After everything that had happened, especially with Leta, Tina knew that he deserved much better than her. Finally, she shoved her legs over the side of the cot and settled her feet on the floor. But when she tried to stand up, her complete fatigue hit her like a brick to the head. An empty stomach, no sleep for two days, her utter heartbreak…no wonder she fell to her knees and doubled over, only just stopping her fall with her hands.

_Can there be a day beyond this night?_

_I don’t know anymore what is true._

_I can’t find my direction, I’m all alone._

_The only star that guided me was you._

As she stopped the fall with her hands, her heirloom locket slipped from under her blouse and dangled from her neck, right before her eyes. Tina stared at it until hot tears completely blurred her vision. Her heart contracted like it had been punched with a thousand stupification curses. If she opened that locket, she knew what she would see: the faces of her mother and father looking at her with all of the disappointment of the world.

She had promised them before she died that she would take care of her little sister…how could she ever open that locket again?

After watching the tears fall from her eyes to the floor, Tina blinked and took a powerful sniff as she stuffed her locket back inside her blouse. She couldn’t open it, but she wouldn’t take it off, either. It was all of the family that she had left now.

_How to rise from the floor_

_When it’s not you I’m rising for?_

_Just do the next right thing:_

_Take a step, step again…_

_It is all that I can to do the next right thing._

It took all of the willpower that Tina Goldstein had left to lift herself up from the floor despite her body screaming to give in to the urge to collapse. It took just as much to put one foot in front of the other. But she had to stop imposing on Newt’s hospitality and get out of here before she made another big mistake.

_I won’t look too far ahead;_

_It’s too much for me to take._

_But break it down to this next breath,_

_This next step, this next choice_

_Is one that I can make._

Looking at the ladder that led out of the case, Tina tried to steel herself for what she would find when she came out…all of the grief and loss…How selfish of her to hide down here when she wasn’t the only one suffering. This gave her enough strength to begin to climb the ladder.

But when she had nearly reached the top and was reaching up to the lid, hurried footsteps from behind her and a voice calling her name startled her. She lost her grip and her balance. But when she fell, someone caught her.

Newt caught her, and he was holding her tightly yet tenderly.

His warmth…his scent…the sense of safety he gave her…Her entire body shook as she held onto him, and all she could choke out through her tears was his name.

“ _Newt!_ ”

And the dear man heard everything that was in her heart through that one word. His embrace tightened as he pressed his lips to her ear to whisper, “I’m right here, love, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“But…you deserve better than –”

“ _No._ ” Though his voice was soft, it held no room for doubt. He pulled back his head just enough to press his forehead to hers and meet her eyes. She needed to understand this. “If nothing else in this world is certain, then let’s be certain about this. About us. Every moment is precious now. You are not alone, Tina. Please tell me that I don’t have to be, either.”

And Tina, a giver in at her lowest point, couldn’t let him believe that for a moment. If she didn’t feel so physically drained and emotionally raw, she would have responded with words. Instead, she closed the distance between them and kissed him, praying that it wasn’t a step too far.

It wasn’t, because he kissed her right back.

Eventually, he put her down and helped her up the ladder. Both were greeted by the delicious smell of chocolate croissants and the warm hugs of their companions. Soon, Tina’s body felt much stronger, and her heart (thanks to Newt) didn’t ache as much.

All of the people in Nicholas Flamel’s home knew that the dawn would bring a world that would be much more frightening than it had once been. But they also knew that they had to keep fighting, keep going, and keep doing the next right thing.

_So I’ll walk through this night,_

_Stumbling blindly towards the light,_

_And do the next right thing._

_And with the dawn, what comes then,_

_When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?_

_Then I’ll make the choice to hear that voice_

_And do the next right thing._


End file.
